uNreQUiTeD
by Ginneke
Summary: When Valentine’s Day comes, can a certain bespectacled Quincy pluck up the courage to tell the girl he loves just how he feels?
1. Chapter 1

**uNreQUiTeD**

**Pairing: **Ishida/Inoue

**Summary:** When Valentine's Day comes, can a certain bespectacled Quincy pluck up the courage to tell the girl he loves just how he feels?

**Disclaimer:** I have been to busy trying to obtain 'Inuyasha' to even contemplate owning 'Bleach.'

Orihime Inoue sat with an uncharacteristically heavy sigh, her reddish-orange hair seeming to flare out as the late evening sun streamed into the apartment where she lived by herself. Her relatives gave her the financial support she needed, but all lived too far away for her to move in with them – that, and moving would disrupt her school life and her social. Her turquoise hairclips glinted in the light, the 'flowers' contained within at rest.

_I can't believe it's already been half a year since we got back from Soul Society…_ Her eyelids drooped slightly, a wistful smile spreading over her face as she remembered the series of adventures and misadventures that had lead them – her, Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun, Ishida-kun and Yoruichi-san – to the place originally, then those who had aided them. There were far too many to count – Hanatarou, Ganju, Abarai Renji, Kenpachi and Yachiru, and even the stranger, who had halted her and Ishida and then taken her away from the battle after the once-Quincy had threatened him into doing so… and those were just a few. There were more, far, far more than that.

And then all but Kurosaki-kun and Yoruichi-san had been captured – even she had, the member of 11th squad who Ishida had forced to take her having handed her over to his captain and vice-captain as soon as he was discovered with her. And then – and this surprised her the most – her captors had broken into the prison, freed the others and taken them all away, partly to use them as bait to lure Kurosaki-kun into the open…

And all this to rescue a single shinigami who was to be executed, Kuchiki Rukia, whose presence in their world had altered the destinies of her and all three of her classmates'. The smile faded slightly as she remembered when she had told Kurosaki-kun that she liked him as more than just a friend. It had been that very day, after school as soon as the rest of the class had all left the classroom. Rukia was waiting outside for someone – Orihime didn't know at the time that it was _Kurosaki_ she was waiting for – and, when she realised that her potential love-rival was a safe distance away she'd out and told him.

He'd been very kind about it, _well, about as kind as he can get,_ she reflected – he hadn't laughed in her face, or bluntly told her to go away as she thought he might, as soon as the words were out. Instead he'd said that he saw her as a friend, even a little sister, but couldn't feel for her the way she did for him. In hindsight, she knew it was an act of kindness, really, telling her that he didn't feel the same. It saved all the pain and heartache that would probably have come later if she hadn't said. Not that she knew of these things – Tatsuki-chan had told her about how it hurts sometimes, and had known from experience. Orihime wasn't hurting though – she was happy for Kurosaki-kun and Rukia-chan, happy that he at least found out from her, and not from anyone else. Sure, she felt the tiniest bit numb, but that was only to be expected after finding out that your long-time crush loved someone else, that your feelings were unrequited.

She stood, turned her back to the window. The sun had long gone down; she guessed she'd been sitting there for at least an hour. Her hand found its way to the blind and pulled it down, then she walked across the room and started preparing for bed. For some reason, she was feeling very tired…

Still half in her school uniform, her eyes slid shut. Her breathing evened out as she lost contact with the physical side of life, slipping instead into a world of dreams and wild, unbridled fantasies.

It was a Wednesday. Wednesday the 13th of February.

Several blocks away a young teen lay awake on his futon, on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling vacantly. Bluish-black hair spread out over the pillow – it looked much tidier normally, but he couldn't be bothered to sort it out. Not tonight. Idly he wondered what _she_ was doing, but stopped himself. It wouldn't do to dwell on it – he already knew his love was unrequited.

In his eyes she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, with her long hair and somehow _knowing_ gaze. The way she moved, the way she talked with such confidence and even the way she smiled made him feel as if he needed to be beside her. But he already knew there were too many barriers to overcome. She was the most popular girl in the class, the one everyone loved, the one always ready to take a risk and come out on top. Even complete strangers could somehow find themselves liking her. And he… he was the loner. Top in just about every test, with a personality and physique that just screamed, 'Geek!' He respected tradition, liked sewing and things like that, hated it when his father badmouthed his deceased grandfather – who was probably even more a father figure than his real one – and mostly kept to himself or, when he still had them, would go off for hours on end training his Quincy powers, striving for perfection. But now he didn't even have those – he'd sacrificed them to prevent the captain of 12th squad from going after _her_ after killing him…

A tiny smile appeared on his face as he remembered the feel of her skin under his hands, as he had bandaged the injury across her shoulder. He could remember, even now, the light flush that had crept across her face as he worked. The feel of her body pressed up close to him after he had pulled out of the way of those blades, only for a moment yet it would be printed into his mind for the rest of his life. Then, not long after that, how he had grown close to angry when that shinigami had started flirting with her. His face and voice hadn't given any trace of it away when he had calmly suggested that his 'senior officer' wait until a more suitable time and not during such a time of conflict, but inside he was close to seething. But she hadn't noticed his anger, or thought nothing of it. It was clear that she only thought of him as a friend, that he couldn't even dream of being even a potential rival for her affections, she was so smitten with Kurosaki. And Kurosaki didn't even seem to notice what he was missing, his affections solely for the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia.

Ishida reached out and switched off the lamp at his bedside. In a cruel twist of fate, even though his Quincy powers were gone he would still _feel_ them, or rather the hole where they had been, and also the spiritual presences of the others. Sado's, Kuchiki's, Kurosaki's and… hers.

"Inoue," he whispered, savouring the feel of her name on his lips. How he wished he could find the courage to say her name like that when she was in earshot, but he never could…

_But she'll never see,_ he thought as he lay in almost-darkness, the thin stream of moonlight the only light in the entire room. _She'll never see how much I care…_

Sunlight was streaming through the windows when her eyes finally opened. Orihime sat up, stretching to wake her muscles. Her eyes travelled over to meet the alarm clock, wondering why it hadn't gone off, when she realised she was awake an hour early. Still, she felt better than she had in weeks.

Her thoughts wandered to the dream. It was the second time that she'd had it – she was standing underneath a row of sakura trees, their branches laden with the fragrant pink blooms, with another person who was quite a bit taller than her. She was never able to see her companion's face, no matter how hard she tried, but she knew that just being there beside them was enough to make her feel warm and somehow secure. She could feel the heat of their hand as they held hers, and then she had turned to them, kissed them gently on the cheek. The first time she had the dream she'd thought it was Kurosaki-kun, but after last night's she realised the figure wasn't quite tall enough to be him. More like Ishida-kun's height, but she was _certain_ it wasn't him. After all, Ishida didn't really seem to be _interested_ in girls on the whole, preferring to spend his time alone. But then, maybe he just hadn't found the right girl yet.

Less than an hour later she was waiting outside the apartment block where she lived. Her friend was late – this wasn't like her, since Tatsuki was usually the one waiting around for her. Humming a soft tune under her breath she leant back against a lamppost, staring up at the sky.

"Hey, Inoue!"

"Tatsuki-chan! Where've you been?"

The tomboyish teenager blushed and looked away. "I-I had something I wanted to write, okay? Oh, and sorry for being late…"

Orihime grinned and started walking. "I haven't been waiting too long. So what were you writing?"

"Nothing!"

"Uh-huh." Tatsuki deliberately looked in the other direction from her friend, the crimson flush still on her cheeks. They stayed silent until they reached the school grounds, at which point the other girls they hung out with crowded around them, chatting about boys and other related topics. Suddenly Orihime realised what day it was –February the 14th. Valentine's Day. A small smile appeared on her face as she realised what it was Tatsuki had been writing – who to, she didn't know, but it was good that she was finally getting over her problem with the last crush she'd had – on Ichigo, needless to say.

_'Kurosaki-kun sure is a girl magnet, isn't he?'_

For once Ishida hadn't been the first one in the classroom – today that 'honour' had fallen to one of Kurosaki's friends. He wouldn't include himself as one of the orange-haired sometimes-shinigami's friends, since he was more like a rival. A rival he was on slightly better terms with than a usual one, but a rival nonetheless. He walked towards his place, discreetly slipping the reason why he was late into the desk of its recipient – not that the other boy would've noticed, anyway. He didn't usually bother with this sort of thing, thinking it a waste of time, but today something had just… compelled him to. He wasn't sure what, but somehow knew it was the right time to. But he hadn't been able to put his name.

A chatting knot of girls walked into the classroom, just behind Sado, Kurosaki and a few others; Ishida's heart leapt when he saw that _she_ was among them. Not wanting to have anyone notice he was looking in her direction, he immediately busied himself with anything inconspicuous in range – namely, a textbook he had randomly grabbed from his bag which they conveniently had a test for that very day. Unfortunately teachers didn't seem to care whether it was Valentine's Day or not, and then wondered why grades always seemed to drop in the tests set for that particular day.

Glancing up over the top of his textbook as Inoue stopped at her desk, he saw her eyes widen at the sight of the envelope that lay on top of her books. Her hand reached out, picked it up. For a moment he wondered if she would actually open it…

…but the moment never came, one of her friends coming over to chat to her. She immediately slipped the letter into her schoolbag, where she would probably forget about it…

'_So much for hoping,'_ he thought bitterly.

This will be a twoshot fanfic – there is another part coming. Watch this space!


	2. Chapter 2

**uNreQUiTeD**

**Pairing: **Ishida/Inoue

**Summary:** When Valentine's Day comes, can a certain bespectacled Quincy pluck up the courage to tell the girl he loves just how he feels?

**Disclaimer:** I have been to busy trying to obtain 'Inuyasha' to even contemplate owning 'Bleach.'

-

Spring was always her favourite season, mostly because of the sakura blossoms and the promise they gave her. Orihime could smell their tantalizing fragrance as it lazily wafted through the open window, and once again found herself wishing that cleaning would get _itself_ done and not take up her time. Sighing – for she knew that it was something that had to be done, a necessary evil – she rummaged through a drawer of cleaning products to find a duster she was absolutely _certain _was in there somewhere, probably right at the bottom… Then she remembered that she'd already taken it out earlier that afternoon and left it lying around. Blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes she crossed the room again, shifting piles of loose paper and causing a single sheet to flutter out. With a small smile she picked it up and placed it back on the stack of paper. Her thoughts drifted back to when she had opened it – it seemed so long ago now but surely couldn't be more that a month…

--_Flashback_--

She had only remembered about the letter in her bag that evening, after coming home from a 'girls night out' at the local shopping mall, during which Tatsuki had stared into space most the time, Chizuru had tried hitting on her so many times she had lost count – someone diagnosed this behaviour as 'Valentine's Day Syndrome', or VDS for short – and the rest of the gang had been too busy looking at guys to pay much attention to the time. Mentally berating herself for forgetting about it she extracted it from between two rather crumpled textbooks, smoothing out the crease down the bottom right corner… which she couldn't for the life of her understand how it even got there in the first place…

--_End flashback_--

The 'doorbell' rang; she instantly dashed over to the door, carefully (a/n: can 'Inoue' and 'careful' even go in the same sentence?) picking a route through the mess all over the place.

"Hi Orihime!"

"Heya."

Two of her friends from school stood in the doorway, smiling at the sight of her. "Oh, hi! I wasn't expecting to see you guys until Monday…"

"Yeah, last minute plans. Do you wanna come out with us this evening?"

"Gomen, but I can't today. I've… got a little problem to sort out."

One of the girls peered around her to see the 'little problem' she was talking about. "You probably won't be finished for ages, huh?

Shaking her head Orihime grinned. "I might by tomorrow evening, if I can find where I put the duster!"

"Well see you at school! Sorry for not asking earlier…"

"No, it's fine, it's fine!" Nodding they left again; she shut the door behind them, turned and announced to the room in an exasperated voice:

"You're determined to make life difficult for me, aren't you!"

--_Flashback_--

Setting her mind back on track she slipped a finger under the tab and lifted it up – whoever had sent it was probably in too much of a hurry to seal it properly, or had an allergy to the gummy stuff they put on the back… Quickly taking it out she unfolded the paper inside and went to sit at her usual spot next to the window, once she was settled starting to read.

'_Hime,_

_I guess that even if you do read this you won't think anything of it, but I need to do this before I lose heart again. _

_The very first day I met knew I somehow knew you were special. Always upbeat and happy, never without that pure smile you gave everyone – even when it wasn't on your face it was there in your eyes. I'm not joking when I say you looked like an angel to my eyes, because you did. Everything about you just seemed to be perfect._

_But I wonder – if you were perfect then, what would you be now? Far out of my league, I know that for certain. Far out of anyone's league, I guess, because there's no one who could even dream of comparing to you._

The end of the letter was left unsigned, a clean, mocking blank that stared up at her (as people said, the words left unspoken were often the most important). She became aware, after a few minutes in which the thought had plenty of time to process itself and get heard, that she had no way of even _identifying_ who it was from. She was certain it was from either a boy in her class or the one above, since none of those from other years would really pay much attention to a girl so much younger than them…

After reading it through a second time she suddenly realised that the hand clutching the paper was trembling.

--_End flashback_--

A month on and she was still no closer to finding out who it was… though had worked out who it definitely wasn't. Kurosaki-kun and Sado-kun were instantly ruled out, leaving Keigo-kun, Mizuiro-kun and Ishida-kun… or the boys from the year above, of course. But Mizuiro-kun already had a huge fan club, which was just about ruled out the possibility (why go for another girl when he already had so many?), Keigo-kun didn't seem like the type to write a letter, and Ishida-kun… was just Ishida-kun, wasn't he?

'_Argh, I'm spending too much time on this!'_ she thought, flustered. _'It can't be good to spend a month thinking about a single letter!'_

Promptly – though probably to try and soothe her clamouring mind, which was, for some reason unknown to her, objecting to her apparent dismissal of the matter – she renewed her search for the ever-elusive duster.

-

He was restless. He always was these days, for some reason. Not only that, but the scent of sakura drifting in through the window made it even more difficult for him to concentrate on his work than it usually was. Whatever crazy notion had made him think that sending the letter would perhaps make things easier hadn't – every minute that he was trying to get some rest the thought came back to plague him, and in response he was working himself harder than ever. He never looked tired to most people who saw him, but those who knew him better were continually asking things like, "Ishida, are you okay?" and, "You should take a break, seriously. You'll kill yourself if you keep this up!"

Sighing heavily he slammed the book shut. It really was no use trying to study, especially on a night like this. _'I wonder what she's doing…'_ he found himself thinking once again as he crossed to the window and shut it. That seemed to be one of the only thoughts he ever had these days.

As he stepped out into the night he immediately felt a little better – the irritation that seemed to be directed at everything these days fading slightly. Locking the door behind him he started walking, letting his feet take him wherever they would while his mind wallowed in thoughts. Some people gave him strange looks as he passed – they never usually saw him outside at this time – but he ignored them. He knew where he would probably end up – by the waterfall, where he had trained before going to Soul Society…

'_Before I lost my powers.'_ He still wished that there had been another way in which he could have defeated Mayuri. He still found himself unconsciously reaching for powers that were not there whenever he sensed a Hollow approaching. He still found himself pretending that nothing was wrong in front of everyone.

He hated being unable to do what had been as easy as breathing before.

He hated being so useless.

He hated feeling weak.

He hated himself.

He hated life.

He hated everything… except her.

Sighing again he sat down. The sakura blossoms hung all around him, lacing the air with their delicate perfume. Taking several deep breaths to try and calm himself he stared down into the water, watching as the full moon shone down on the surface… A month ago, at this time, he had written the letter by the light of the full moon – a full moon was supposed to symbolize luck, which he didn't seem to have any of…

"Ishida-kun!"

He sighed – even now, when he was trying to distract himself, he could still hear her voice…

"Ishida-kun?"

A wisp of orange hair fell down into his vision. "Inoue-san!" He looked up, surprised to see her. "What are you doing out here?"

The girl moved out of the uncomfortable position she was in – bent half over, looking down at him – and responded, "I just wanted to get out, that's all."

"Ah." He couldn't think of anything more eloquent to say, especially with her so close…

"Ishida-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look it," she retorted, sitting down next to him, then her voice softened. "You've been down ever since we got back from Soul Society."

"Honestly, I'm fine." _'With you nearby I don't feel so useless.'_

She seemed to accept his excuses, looking up at the night sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Dragging his eyes away from her face he whispered, "Yeah." But he wasn't talking about the sky, even though it was. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice that he wasn't.

"Did you know a full moon's supposed to be lucky?" she asked suddenly, staring up at the silver disc hung amongst the stars, leaning back slightly to get a better view.

"I've never seen any signs of that being true." He pushed his glasses up slightly, an age-old habit of his. "It's never worked for me, at any rate."

The two sat in silence for a while, staring up at the sky, each lost in their own thoughts. _'Inoue, you never did say what you were doing out here…'_

--

'_Is it him? Was it Ishida-kun?'_ Orihime glanced at him out of the corner of one eye, trying to make sense of the situation. _'…It can't be, he only ever calls me 'Inoue-san'…'_

"Ah, look! A shooting star!" She pointed up at the arc of light that flashed across the sky, marvelling at the sight. _'I wish…'_

As the shooting star disappeared from view Ishida turned to her. "What did you wish for?"

"Mou, Ishida-kun, you're not supposed to tell! It won't come true if I say!"

He looked away with a slight smile, the first she had seen on him in weeks. With a sudden urge to see his true smile again she declared, "Alright, I'll tell you."

"Iie, Inoue-san, I wouldn't want to deprive you of your wish."

'_It probably won't come true anyway,'_ she thought, but then shook off the depressing realisation and continued, "Have you ever heard the saying that the words left unspoken are the most important?" He nodded, turning to look at her once more, and she felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks – she was glad it was dark, he wouldn't be able to see. "W-well, it's not so much a word as a name…"

--

The first thought that came to mind was one of puzzlement. _'A name?'_

Then, 'She couldn't mean…'

"My wish was to find out who it was."

"Who what was?" he prompted gently. Was it really…?

"Who…" Their eyes met. "Who sent me that letter a month ago."

He sat in stunned silence for a moment. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it definitely wasn't that. _'It was me.'_

"Ishida-kun, did you say something?"

He hadn't been aware of saying the thought out loud, nor was he truly aware of what happened next. It was as if his hand had suddenly developed a life of its own, reaching out to take her smaller one in his. Mouth suddenly dry, he repeated in a soft whisper, "It was me."

He half expected her to pull away, or to say something that would put him down, but once again was unprepared for her reaction. She flung her arms around him, hugging him so tightly he could hardly breathe, but he didn't complain. He brought his arms round to circle her, drawing her even closer to him. He could feel her warm breath on his neck, the almost desperate way she clung to him, as if afraid he would suddenly say it was only a joke.

Half-drunk on euphoria though still completely aware of what he was about to do, he loosened his hold on her so that she looked up at him in confusion. With a small smile he bent down and pressed his lips to hers.

She was his.

He was hers.

Nothing else mattered anymore.

--

_Just a bit of randomness - to combat love with logic is illogical. Therefore, love is illogical._


End file.
